Pence deal seem eminent, but Morneau might be nice

What will the Giants do? Anything? The good news is Alfonso Soriano will not accept a trade to the Giants, and that’s good news because he’s a defensive liability. Could you imagine Soriano in left at AT&T Park? He struggles enough in a basic left field at Wrigley, but with the massive outfield in San Francisco he would definitely be costing the Giants some games defensively. Thankfully we no longer have to worry about that.

The real question is whom will the Giants get to add some pop to their offense? All the talk is Hunter Pence, but the Phillies will need to eat some of his contract to get him to the Giants. He does have 17 homers and 59 RBIs, not worth $10.4 million. I’m not sure the exact total but he he’s owed roughly $4 million, and is arbitration eligible next season and becomes a free agent in 2014. At least, the Giants would have rights to him next season.

Pence seems like the most viable option, but another team may get in the way, the Detroit Tigers. They received news today that Victor Martinez probably will not return this season, so they are looking for some pop in the middle of the line-up and money is not a problem. Pence seems to fit the bill and the Phillies would not have to worry about sending cash considerations. That would make the AL Central a little more interesting.

Back to the Giants, what if Pence does not work out? Maybe, Justin Morneau? He’s signed through 2013 at $14 million. The Twins would have to come up with some cash to make this deal work, but that could be a possibility. Another block could occur since Mark Teixeira went down with a wrist injury and will have a MRI today. For the Yankees, the timing is good that he went down prior to the deadline, and much like the Tigers the Yankees can just pay Morneau.

As I was typing this up a tweet just came through that the Giants and Philllies talks are heating up as the Giants are willing to trade two starting outfielders, I’m ok with that. Let’s see what happens!